Phoenix Turns Into a Hurricane of Civil Disobedience After SB 1070 Smack-Down, and the MCSO's Police State Tactics on Parade

On Friday, July 30, in an act of classic retaliation by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, Phoenix civil rights leader Salvador Reza was kidnapped by a pack of armed thugs in the employ of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

That the men who took Reza into custody were peace officers only makes their abduction of the 58-year-old longtime Arpaio critic that much more egregious. Calling it an "arrest" gives the incident a legitimacy it does not deserve.

Stephen Lemons

Salvador Reza in stripes after his unlawful arrest by an MCSO goon squad.

Reza, who had been collared the day before during an act of civil disobedience at the Fourth Avenue Jail, had been watching a demonstration taking place at the 35th Avenue entrance to an MCSO facility near Lower Buckeye Road. That's where Arpaio had set up a command post for his most recent Hispanic-hunting dragnet.

In a bold move of defiance, 11 activists spontaneously decided to block the driveway leading in and out of Arpaio's headquarters. MCSO vehicles were prevented from exiting, albeit not for long. And the 11 activists were arrested.

Even the MCSO's "probable cause" statement for Reza's abduction noted that Reza, of the group Puente, was across the four-lane avenue, nowhere near the action.

But that was not far enough away to keep the MCSO from ginning up an excuse to put Reza in cuffs. Sheriff's Office goons blocked traffic, walked across the street, took custody of Reza, and hustled him back to the command post, a political prisoner of the sheriff.

The entire incident was captured on video by local media and by members of Puente. One of the deputies involved had a hand on his gun throughout the episode. The scene resembled something you might have seen in Argentina when a military junta ruled that country and dissidents regularly "disappeared."

Reza was placed in the back of a van, where he was kept for several hours before being transported to Fourth Avenue Jail. At one point, the MCSO opened up the van to display Reza to reporters and photographers, as if he were a just-captured prisoner of war.

"If they can do this to me," he told journalists before refusing interviews, "what do you expect they can do to anybody else?"

At Fourth Avenue, Reza was forced to don stripes and placed in solitary confinement. As with his detention the night before, he was not allowed a phone call — nor was he read his Miranda rights — he told me afterward.

About 150 Reza supporters held a raucous all-night vigil outside the main entrance to the jail. A sound system was set up, blasting everything from cumbia to rock en español as demonstrators chanted and danced, sometimes in the pouring rain.

MCSO detention officers watched the improbable revelry from the roof of the building and from a side entrance. But they did nothing, allowing the dancers to turn the street into an impromptu block party.

When I asked one officer on a smoke break to explain the MCSO's hands-off approach to the gathering, he simply shrugged.

"It's a free country," he said.

I suspect their nonchalance had more to do with a lack of manpower to clear the street. Following Arpaio's sweep, his SWAT team members were probably tucked into bed, chasing illegal dishwashers in their dreams.

Reza's initial appearance before night court Commissioner Julia Lopez occurred about 3:30 a.m. At that point, the county prosecutor made a startling admission concerning the MCSO's probable-cause statement, which alleged that Reza had violated the terms of his release the night before.

Looking at a statement from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, he said, "I did not see that this rose to the level of probable cause."

Lopez agreed, telling the deputy county attorney, "I do not have enough information to find probable cause in this matter, sir."

She declined a request from Reza's attorney, Robert Pastor, to dismiss the bogus charge of "interfering with a judicial proceeding," which covers ignoring a court order.

All the same, she cut Reza loose sans bond and set an August 18 court date.

Reza was released just after sunrise to the elation of the weary crowd outside Fourth Avenue. He explained that, from his vantage point, MCSO Deputy Chief Brian Sands, Arpaio's longtime henchman and a man who would have felt right at home in the old Soviet KGB, was in charge of his arrest.

In the probable-cause statement itself, which you can read on my Feathered Bastard blog, the MCSO contends that Reza violated the terms of his release by coming in contact with one of the officers involved in his July 29 arrest, notoriously unprofessional MCSO SWAT team Captain David Letourneau.

But that lame excuse is belied by the probable-cause statement's observation that Reza was across the street from any MCSO officers. The MCSO initiated contact with Reza, not the other way around.

"I think it's going to be a long time before they break me," Reza laughed upon his release. "I was ready to go 18 days . . . That's when the court date is."

(During a press conference four days after the latest arrest, County Attorney Rick Romley agreed with the judge in the case and dropped the charge against Reza.)

I'm Canadian, and that's my excuse for being deliberately obtuse to make a point...We have a serious problem as well although nothing like you guys...not yet...so you really have my sympathies..here it's Asian gangs and S. American street dealers (Vancouver)it's great, they get in from Honduras, sell crack on the East Side, if they get busted, big deal, no jail time, we PAY to fly you home :) isn't that nice? That's the first time, so they just come right on back, get busted again? yup, you guessed it..

So it seems to me, the wrong people are being accused of racism,If you have Person A.."A" gets pulled over for expired tagsAfter even a cursory check gives probable cause to assume "A" >MAY< be in the country illegally....Which is a CRIME(Let's say he was inconsistent in statements about his living address, the owner of the car, fake ID/NO ID, who knows)Are the protesters of this law saying -If "A" (regardless if A was guilty of anything or not) proves to be 'latino', this suspicion should be ignored? That's absurd... "A" should be 'exempt' (for lack of a better word) from the mere POSSIBILITY that they could be an illegal alien? Because he's 'Latino'?THAT sounds racist to me, knowing one group would get special/different treatment by law enforcement based on your (still unproven!) assumed race/nationality?So it's "I can't be an illegal alien, cause I'm from Mexico"? Or "Cause I don't speak English"?Huh??what if "A" met all of the above criteria ALSO, but instead of 'Latino' he appeared to be 'Middle Eastern' and spoke with a thick accent?I love my freedoms too but I would not expect, but DEMAND the officer who pulled "A" over to thoroughly investigate this man I'm sorry but that's that, that's called PROBABLE CAUSE, and it all starts, not because "A" is an "immigrant"/"foreign"/ or a member of the "Feel-Good-Race-O'-The-Week" it is because "A" did >something< to cause a law enforcement officer to be interviewing/questioning/arresting/ them! Because (lets face it) if you get pulled over it's usually because I did something wrong, random roadblocks are an unfortunate but necessary exception to I have to accept that as we all do)

nope, no bias here {rolls eyes}. Leading a protest that stops law enforcement officers and emergency vehicles from being able to leave the station and respond to an emergency definitely qualifies as an offense. The fact that this scumbag was in the area shows he was there to cause trouble but didn't have the cajones to sit in on it himself. Or are you dumb enough to believe he just happened to be across the street buying a new pair of work boots?

If you Mexicans don't like the way we arrest illegals than stop trying to jump the fence, pay for coyotes to kidnap you for ransom, and stop whining. Your web site should be shut down for attacking innocent citizens of the US. We don't want you here..

If the sherrif is so corrupt and breaking laws why hasnt anything been done to get him out of office. The mayor keeps trying but nothing sticks. I dont know about you but I am proud that he sticks to what he says and enforces all laws. If the politicians want him out of office so bad that just tells me that they cant control him and he is not in their pocket.

I read the probable cause statement and it doesnt say anything about him being arrested for talking to an officer, it says he was actively participated in the rally..this makes me think the judge told him to stay away from the whole thing do we have a copy of that?

I have a hobby. Every Wednesday I drive around to the locations in my neighborhood that have New Times stands and I openly take the entire stack of freshly printed papers and pile them in my car. After a couple hours I usually gather about 500 papers or so (total guess on my part, I have never bothered to count). I then take them to the first dumpster I find and throw them in. I call it my personal BOYCOTT. I know it isn't much, but I take heart in the knowledge that I am doing my part to take down the mindless PC-propaganda machine that is called the New Times. If you are like me, and you are sick to death of the hateful extremist bullshit that is constantly streaming out of this paper I encourage you to do the same thing. Every time you see a New Times stand take all the papers in the stand and throw them away. Together we can force the editors of the New Times to go back to the good old "Entertainment" reporting they used to engage in. Otherwise we will simply bury them. Either way works for me.

I have lived in Arizona for the past 36 years, close enough to be called a native i think. And i still do not understand why the people of Arizona keep voteing this clown back in office!?? This Idoit has done nothing except break the law, and embarrass the State, and the people of AZ. Don't you think enough, is enough?? get someone else in that office!!

The MCAO is frequently asked how illegal immigration impacts crime. In response, the office undertook a landmark research project in 2008. The study concluded that approxi¬mately 21% of those sentenced for felonies in Maricopa County are in the United States il¬legally, despite the fact that the best estimates show illegal immigrants make up 9% of the local population. More specifically, illegal immigrants accounted for 16.5% of those sentenced for violent crimes; 18.5% of those sentenced for property crimes; 33.5% of those sentenced for the manufacture, sale, or trans¬port of drugs; and 44.4% of those sentenced for forgery and fraud. In releasing the research, County Attorney Andrew Thomas commented, “Our border crisis is directly fueling Arizona’s crime rates. While all of us should welcome legal immigrants as a source of great eco-nomic and social vitality for our country, we must at the same time acknowledge the high price we are paying for illegal immigration.”

Despite opposing opinions expressed in previous comments, thisinformation must continue to be brought to the surface in order toshowcase the wrongs perpetrated by those who would seek tooppress justice.

Keep up the good work MCSO, at least someone is helping keep Arizona safe. If you dont live here and see what we Arizonans have to deal with everyday, then dont open your mouth about racism and what not. You dont see it how we live it. Being here for a day doesnt justify your opinions either. Stop judging our police system. Its not perfect but they are doing what they are suppose to do...Protect Americans and their state/country.

This is the best piece of reporting I have ever witnessed. How have you not moved on to bigger and better things yet? The NY Times MUST be pounding down your door by now! Such vivid imagery! Such unbiased, fair, and balanced writing! 'Goons'... 'neo-Nazi'... I can almost TASTE the sweet, sweet vitriol spewing from your keyboard. And it tastes like... tacos - wait, that's racist... umm, organic food (thank you stuffwhitepeoplelike.com)! Simply brilliant! It's too bad you lean (like a chollo - dammit! sorry, I did it again) just to the left, because Fox News could use someone with your talent (though, terrifyingly, it somehow manages to be the nation's most-watched news channel, even without you)!

::sigh:: At least I can count on the New Times to give me recommendations for some great local restaurants. Any place you'd recommend Stephen?

Deut Chapt 15 Verse 11 King James Version (Abraham’s GOD)For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

Stephen, Well documented, investigative reporting. It doesn't get any better than this. What more does the DOJ and FBI need? Especially is a county where a nonviolent, first offense puts it's citizens behind bars for decades. This abuse of power is beyond belief in America!

Wow...another biased article about MCSO from The New Times. What a surprise! Are these guys even a news agency? I thought the new times is what people picked up to find where the local strip clubs or smoke shops were at..? Is this Lemons guy trying to actually report some News or just force his liberal views on us as usual? Considering that a massive majority of Arizona/U.S. citizens support Arpaio and another massive majority support SB1070, I have to go with the later.Please continue spewing your idiotic liberal views through these articles, it is successfully rallying the State and Country to get off their butts and do something about it. November can't come soon enough for 70% of the nation to vote in many more just like Joe and Jan. Thank you for all you do for the cause, it couldn't be as successful nor could it be building as much momentum if it weren't for screwballs like Lemons smacking the masses in the face with his backwards thinking.

I would hope Montoya/Reza, case against the taxpayer "fleecing" Sheriff, would be swift. This way the payout judgement, could be used against the him! Furthermore, I hope th DOJ, gets its act together, and stops the "leniency" it has given the "Senile 'o Coot". Maybe even put him in his own "tent city"!

"Force liberal views on us"... no one is asking you to read the New Times, knuckledragger. Its obvious its a liberal paper, just as Fox is a conservative news organization, which I ignore happily, I suggest you do the same if you're so easily upset. I'm not one for open borders, but if you're willing to pay to live in a police state, well by all means, be so stupid, its a free country. Arpaio is a waste of fucking cash, thousands of dollars spent to capture a few illegals each sweep, wonderful. God knows how much that jack ass spent on the truck and 50 cal. he brought out to the desert "looking for smugglers" A.K.A. publicity stunt, If you think he was using that truck and gun for anything else other than to look pretty standing next to, you're an idiot. Enjoy your ignorance, at least you can do it in the presence of other idiots.

what a stupid thing to say...do you have any idea who the Nazis or the SS were? not to mention what they did. My grandparents died in a concentration camp of starvation and you compare AZ law officials to the Nazis. How far over your belt does your gut hang?